


The Worm Ouroboros

by Annariel



Category: Sapphire and Steel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/pseuds/Annariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robert Clarke is trapped in a time loop, but Sapphire and Steel want him to do something unthinkable to break out of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Worm Ouroboros

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to lost_spook for beta-reading.

It wasn't a perfect summer day. It was hot and sticky with threat of rain coming in, but it was a Sunday afternoon and James Clarke declared the _Marie Claire_ finished.

Robert waved the varnishing brush in triumph sending small droplets flying, to land and set, spoiling the smooth finish. 

"We'll have some tea while that last coat dries, and then we'll see how she does in the water," James announced.

An hour later, rain still holding off, they launched the _Marie Claire_ was into the old canal that ran past the bottom of the garden. She wobbled dramatically as Robert stepped into her and he flailed his arms in unexpected alarm. The boat tipped further.

"Careful, Robert," James shouted.

But Robert could already feel himself toppling out over the water on the far side. There was a splash. Something solid hit his head and his mind became mushy and confused.

He sank.

Then strong hands pulled him out of the water. 

"You gave me quite a fright," James remarked later as they ate their second tea and Robert's mother hovered, her long riotously coloured sundress a flutter of anxiety.

* * *

Robert walked down the old garden path. "We should check the shed. Make sure there's nothing worth keeping."

"Then we'll be done." He could hear the weariness in his wife's voice. Packing up his father's home had been draining for them both. A long slow tail to the death and funeral, as if a ghost was dragging them backwards into the past.

The shed stood in an overgrown corner of the garden. As he had aged, James Clarke had lost his energy for gardening. A man came in and mowed the lawn, but the borders had run to weeds and the shed had vanished behind an overgrown shrub.

Robert pulled at the door. The hinges had rusted and the wood had swollen so it was jammed tight. 

"Maybe there won't be anything worth keeping in there," his wife suggested. "Let's leave it to the clear out company."

Robert gave the door a harder pull. Silently he agreed with his wife, but he wanted to check everything before strangers came and took away all that remained of his father. With a wrenching sound the door pulled open and light fell into the interior.

"Wow!" Cameron Clarke darted between his parents, his eyes alight and his hands reaching for the dust and cobweb strewn form of the _Marie Claire_. Robert watched, his heart clenching in surprise, as Cameron's fingers teased at the congealed lumps of varnish that still clung to the side.

"It'll never float," Robert's wife said doubtfully as Robert and Cameron dragged the boat down to the old canal.

"Dad and I built this together!" Robert declared. "I think she deserves a final voyage before she gets thrown away."

The boat wobbled dramatically as they boy stepped into her and he flailed his arms in unexpected alarm. The boat tipped further.

"Careful," his father shouted.

But he was already toppling out over the water on the far side. There was a splash. Something solid hit his head and his mind became mushy and confused.

He sank.

Then strong hands pulled him out of the water. 

"You gave me quite a fright," James remarked later as they ate their second tea and Robert's mother hovered, her long riotously coloured sundress a flutter of anxiety.

* * *

Robert hesitated in front of his father's shed, a faint premonition troubling him. Then, pushing it to one side he pulled open the door.

"Maybe there won't be anything worth keeping in there," his wife suggested. "Let's leave it to the clear out company."

Robert turned to look at her. The sunlight was catching her hair making it look almost blonde. She was wearing a short blue sundress that he didn't recall seeing before.

Robert gave the door a harder pull. Silently he agreed with his wife, but he wanted to check everything before strangers came and took away all that remained of his father. With a wrenching sound the shed door pulled open and light fell into the interior.

"Wow!" Cameron Clarke darted between his parents, his eyes alight and his hands reaching for the dust and cobweb strewn form of the _Marie Claire_. His hands ghosted over the congealed lumps of varnish.

"It'll never float," Robert's wife said.

The boat wobbled dramatically as the boy stepped into her and he flailed his arms in unexpected alarm. The boat tipped further.

Strong hands pulled him out of the water.

"You gave me quite a fright," James remarked later as they ate their second tea and Robert's mother hovered, her blue sundress swirling around her legs.

* * *

As Robert stood in front of his father's shed a hand fell gently on his shoulder. For a moment he didn't recognise the woman behind him. He shook his head to clear away the cobwebs.

"Have you heard of the worm Ouroboros?" she asked.

"It eats its own tail!" Cameron butted in, eager to show off his knowledge.

The woman, Robert's wife, crouched down in front of Cameron. "It's an endless cycle the end blending seamlessly into the beginning."

Robert shrugged and pulled open the door of the shed.

The boat wobbled.

Strong hands pulled him out of the water.

"This is getting tiresome," James Clarke said and he pulled at the cuffs of his grey suit.

"Patience," admonished Robert's mother.

* * *

Robert pulled open the door of the shed. The hinges had rusted and the wood had swollen so it was jammed tight and he had to use a lot of force. Then he turned to face the woman beside him who he was fairly sure _wasn't_ his wife. Her eyes gleamed blue in the semi-dark of the interior.

"The worm Ouroboros; eats its own tail. Is that relevant?"

"You are caught in a loop," she said with a slight smile.

"Wow!" Cameron Clarke darted between them, his eyes alight and his hands reaching for the dust and cobweb strewn form of the _Marie Claire_.

Robert turned back towards the boat. "I think she deserves a final voyage before she gets thrown away."

The boat wobbled.

"All you have to do to break the loop is something different," said the woman, as Cameron Clarke fell into the water, the oar flipping over to hit him on the head.

Robert hesitated, but then he dived into the old canal, after his son.

James Clarke sat at the table in silence and glared at the woman in the blue dress. "This isn't working," he snapped eventually.

"You can't expect me to leave my own son to drown," Robert said.

* * *

They stood by the bank of the old canal, as Cameron scrambled into the boat.

"This loop threatens all of reality. You have to break it." The woman's voice was sympathetic, but Robert could detect the hardness beneath it.

He dived into the canal.

"We could stop you," said the man who definitely wasn't James Clarke. He sat with his hands on the kitchen table, the woman in her blue sundress standing behind him, one hand on his shoulder.

"If you could do that, you would have done so already," Robert said and decided to pay them no attention.

* * *

The boat wobbled.

Strong hands pulled him out of the water.

* * *

"How can you think your son is more important than all the humans on this world of yours?" The grey man and the blue woman were standing in front of the shed now, all pretense that they fitted into the scene abandoned.

Robert snorted. "Your solution is to stand idly by,while my son drowns, and I have no proof that anything else is at risk."

"You have to break the cycle. You must believe us," the woman said.

Robert pushed past them and yanked at the door of the shed. As Cameron pushed under his arm shouting "Wow!" he paused to take in the surroundings, the abandoned workbench, the box of tools, the old outboard engine lying in one corner.

His mind pondered the words of the two strangers even as he and Cameron dragged the old boat down to the canal for its final/maiden voyage. Already Robert wasn't sure if it was Cameron or James who helped him to carry the boat.

The boy scrambled into the _Marie Claire_. The boat wobbled. Robert sank and dived. Strong hands pulled at him.

"Do you really think this is a worthwhile existence?" queried the grey suited man as he sat in James Clarke's place at the table.

* * *

"It would help," said Robert, picking up the abandoned outboard motor, while his son rushed towards the _Marie Claire_ , "if this were outside the shed."

"What do you have in mind?" asked the blonde woman, her hand reaching out to touch the old motor.

Robert shook it gently and listened to the oil inside slosh around. "Well, you know, then I wouldn't have to open the door."

"Dad! Look at this!" Cameron called insistently.

"Can you do it, Sapphire?" the grey-suited man asked as Robert turned his attention towards the old boat.

Strong hands pulled him clear of the water.

"It's all in place!" the man said, seated at the kitchen table.

"Where's your friend?" Robert looked around the kitchen. It was just the two of them.

"We need Sapphire down by the shed," said the man.

* * *

Robert walked down the old garden path. "We should check the shed. Make sure there's nothing worth keeping."

"Then we'll be done." He could hear the weariness in his wife's voice. Packing up his father's home had been draining for them both. A long slow tail to the death and funeral, as if a ghost was dragging them backwards into the past.

"You humans will tie yourselves down with things best thrown away," the man said, as if answering Robert's thought.

Sapphire was standing beside the shed, the outboard motor at her feet. It looked incongruous, propped in a bed of wallflowers. Robert stooped to pick it up.

"Maybe there won't be anything worth keeping in there," his wife suggested. "Let's leave it to the clear out company."

"You're probably right," Robert agreed. "But I don't really want some stranger rifling through Dad's abandoned projects." He sloshed the old outboard motor thoughtfully.

His wife pursed her lips in concerned disapproval, but she said nothing as he emptied the petrol over the shed. That was when Robert realised he had no way to set the thing on fire. He patted his pockets fruitlessly.

"Here," the blond-haired man was standing next to him holding what looked like a medieval torch. Flame glowed around around its end.

Robert took it and tossed it at the shed.

"Wow!" Cameron Clarke darted between his parents, his eyes alight. Robert grabbed him before he got too close. He had the brief impression of strong hands pulling him back. Then the world flickered and the fire danced.

"Your father would have liked a dramatic farewell," his wife said, slipping her hand into his arm.

"Yes, he would," Robert agreed.

The family turned and left.


End file.
